"It was you, wasn't it?" Blake asked.
Words Jenny did not want to hear. Especially coming out of Blake Douglas's mouth. Especially given the circumstances, being alone with the man in his apartment.
Jenny fought to recover. "Me, what?" she asked as innocently as she could.
"You were the one who wrote the email."
"I don't know what--"
"Now I know you're guilty. Everyone read that."
Jenny could only think of escape. She'd only dropped by this evening to give him a file. She had no idea she was walking into a trap.
"Look, Blake, I don't know how you could--"
"You didn't want me near your department. You saw me as a threat when I got transferred. When I have nothing to do with your section, and we only share one secretary."
"That is just wrong--"
"Do you deny you wrote it?" Blake asked.
"Yes."
"Interesting. I tracked the original email to your computer. Dave corroborated this."
"Dave's just mad at me because I dumped him."
"That's not the way he tells it."
"No kiddin', what a shocker."
"So, you deny you originated the email?" Blake asked.
"Yes. Uh, I have to go, you got the file, I--"
"Wait, I'd like you to hear something."
"Really, I'm late to a--"
"Please." Blake reached out and turned on a small tape recorder that was sitting on the coffee table in front of them.
Jenny froze as she heard her own voice coming out of the machine. "So what if I sent it? Who wanted him here?"
Blake said, "This is my favorite part."
Jenny heard herself say, "That fine ass of his does not make up for that superior attitude. I don't care how pretty he is, he deserved that prank."
Blake reached over and turned off the tape recorder.
"That was illegal," Jenny said, shaken.
"So is libel," Blake replied.
Jenny was stunned into silence. Caught. She was caught. She felt like a bunny stuck in a cage with a wolf.
The look Blake was sending her was scary. His gorgeous face turned almost sinister, malevolent. He was clearly angry about the email and wanted revenge.
"You obviously have a plan," Jenny finally said.
"Obviously."
"What do you want?" she asked, resigned.
"Well, for starters, dinner," he replied.
"What?"
"Dinner, you know, as in eating."
"Yes. You're scaring me," Jenny replied.
"I haven't even got to the good part yet," he said, a wide smile overtaking his handsome face.
"I can hardly wait."
"Of course, you can just walk out of here..."
"And then what would happen?" Jenny asked, not really wanting the answer.
"I go to Jacob."
Her heart stopped. "You would."
"I would."
"That would mean my job."
"Would it?" Blake asked, seemingly relishing the thought.
"You're enjoying this."
"Very much. Watching you squirm is delightful."
"So, wait. Dinner with you or I lose my job. What's the catch?"
"I'm so glad you asked," he said, looking like the cat that ate the canary.
"I don't think I'm gonna like this," Jenny said.
"I don't think you are, either. Because after dinner, we come back here, I take you over my knee and spank you into the middle of next week."
Jenny was shocked. "You're serious."
"Quite."
"You're sick."
"Quite possibly."
"That's assault."
"Not if you submit to it willingly. Then it's consenting adults."
"You are sick."
"Determined. You crossed the line with me, woman. And for that, you must pay."
An inadvertent thrill went through Jenny. Something about the look in Blake's eye. Primal. Base.
She immediately got angry with her reaction. What the hell was she doing getting turned on by the thought of the man spanking her?
"You're serious about this," Jenny said.
Blake nodded, but the look in his eye didn't waver. Serious, vengeful.
It didn't help that he was so good-looking. Blake was tall, had light brown hair, large blue eyes and an almost perfectly symmetrical face. Killer body, long legs, nice rear end. Lovely smile. And now this other side to him. This dominant, authoritarian side. While it turned her on, it also frightened her. Here was a man she couldn't bully. A novelty in Jenny's world.
But a spanking? She'd never been spanked before.
)
